Have
you been feeling run down lately? And suffering from mouth ulcers that
won’t go away with Vitamin B12 supplements? Confused, depressed,
anxious and angry? Have you been experiencing PMS more intense than
usual that you almost consider a visit to your ob/gyn, or even worse, a
psychiatrist? Your GP prescribed tests of blood sugar,
blood iron and thyroid hormones come out normal, and yet your symptoms
won’t go away? Even blogging does not give you the usual respite ?
Perhaps it is best to
have doctors for friends, especially the type you can crib to, without
wondering if you come out looking and sounding like a hypochondriac,
which you most likely are ! And if you knew them in your blogging life,
consider yourself VERY lucky !
And so, my co-blogger, doctor friend,
after tolerating almost an hour of my rant online, on my exhaustion,
depression, and what not, actually, without hanging up on me, suggested
that Vitamin B6 deficiency could be my problem.
And to the hypochondriacal netoholic, an immediate google search revealed the following facts:
Deficiency of vitamin
B6 causes a wide range of physical and physiological symptoms including
irritability, nervousness, insomnia, general weakness, skin changes
such as dermatitis, even dandruff and acne and lowered resistance to
irritants and diseases. Your nails could be ridged, tongue inflamed and
there could be changes in bone density leading to osteoporosis or
arthritis, unrelated to your hormonal health or calcium levels. Vitamin
B6 is essential across the board; it is responsible in balancing sex
hormones, especially in women, for metabolism of hemoglobin, the
carrier of oxygen to your tissues, and for metabolism of protein.
Vitamin B6 is also important in the synthesis of neurotransmitters such
as serotonin and dopamine.
Deficiency of Vitamin B6 can be determined by measuring the amount of the enzyme aspartate transaminase in red-blood cell or the quantity of transketolase in blood plasma.
The Recommended Dietary Allowances of Vitamin B6
are: 1.3 mg for young men and women (<50 years), 1.7 mg for older
men and 1.5 mg for older women. Pregnant and lactating women require
1.9 and 2 mg respectively.
Some natural sources of Vitamin B6 are baked potato
(with skin), raw bananas, garbanzo beans, fortified oatmeal and other
ready-to-eat cereals, and chicken breast.
Controlled release vitamin B6 supplements are
prescribed after careful clinical evaluation of symptoms. These
supplements, however, should not be taken without medical
recommendation as overdose can result in a temporary deadening of
certain nerves causing a feeling of disembodiment common with the loss
of proprioception (sense of the relative position of neighboring parts
of the body). Although excess vitamin is excreted in the urine, very
high doses of B6 (1,000 mg per day) over long periods of time may
result in painful neurological symptoms including pain and numbness of
the extremities, and difficulty in walking. There is also a medical
school of thought that B6 supplements merely have a placebo effect.
Having tried a controlled release B6 supplement
recommended by this fantastic friend of mine, I am sold on the cure !
Totally ! Placebo, or very real.
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